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Building Trust with Schools and Diverse Families

By: Cori Brewster and Jennifer Railsback

While increased family involvement is linked to improved student performance, it is not always fully understood and examined within schools. Different types of involvement may include parenting, communicating with schools, volunteering at schools, supporting learning at home, participating in school governance and decision-making, and taking part in school-community collaborations. In order to encourage and foster this comprehensive involvement with all families, school administrators and teachers must develop mutual trust, consider the different cultural attitudes some families may have towards schooling, and be diligent in reaching out.

Examples of Family Involvement Plans in School Districts:

Foreword

This report is one in a series of "hot topics" reports produced
by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
These reports briefly address current educational concerns
and issues as indicated by requests for information that come
to the Laboratory from the Northwest region and beyond.
Each booklet contains a discussion of research and literature
pertinent to the issue, how Northwest schools and programs
are addressing the issue, selected resources, and contact
information.

One objective of the series is to foster a sense of community
and connection among educators. Another is to increase
awareness of current education-related themes and concerns.
Each booklet gives practitioners a glimpse of how
fellow educators from around the Northwest are addressing
issues, overcoming obstacles, and attaining success. The goal
of the series is to give educators current, reliable, and useful
information on topics that are important to them.

Introduction

"Students will need more than just good teachers and
smaller class sizes to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
For students to get the most out of school, we need to
promote a partnership between parents, community
leaders, and teachers... Only through partnerships can
our schools keep improving and stay on the right track."

During the past several decades, the benefits of parents' and other family members' involvement in children's education
have been well-documented. Although it isn't the only factor
in improving student learning, 30 years of research has
consistently linked family involvement to higher student
achievement, better attitudes toward school, lower dropout
rates, and increased community support for education, as
well as many other positive outcomes for students, families,
and schools (Henderson & Mapp, 2002). When families are
involved in learning, the research shows, "students achieve
more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background,
or the parents' education level" (Antunez, 2000).

Despite these findings, many schools struggle to actively
engage high numbers of parents and other family members
in children's schooling. Of those families who do get involved,
the majority are white and middle income, typically those
whose home culture most closely matches the norms, values,
and cultural assumptions reflected in the school. Minority,
lower-income, and families who speak limited English, on the
other hand, are often highly underrepresented in school-level
decision-making and in family involvement activities —
a phenomenon that speaks far more often to differing needs,
values, and levels of trust than it does to families' lack of
interest or unwillingness to get involved (Antunez, 2000;
Goddard, Tschannen-Moran, & Hoy, 2001; Trumbull,
Rothstein-Fisch, Greenfield, & Quiroz, 2001; Young, 1998).

This booklet examines issues of trust and family involvement,
focusing specifically on relationships between diverse
families and schools. After providing a brief introduction to
three core concepts — trust, culture, and family involvement — we offer a summary of relevant research and a discussion
of common obstacles to school-family partnerships. Tips
for reaching out to diverse families, profiles of several
current family involvement efforts in Northwest schools,
and additional resources are provided at the end.

In context: Family involvement and No Child Left Behind

"In the best of all possible worlds," write Adams and Christenson (2000), "the family-school relationship would be based
not only on two-way communication, cooperation, and coordination,
but also on collaboration" (p. 478). The 2001 reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), No Child Left Behind (NCLB), signals a move in that direction. The inclusion of several new provisions related to family involvement reflect the gradual shift in U.S. educational
policy and practice from viewing parents as important players to full partners in the formal education of their child.

The new provisions under NCLB, particularly those under
Titles I and III, expand schools' obligations to inform parents
and to reach out to families who have traditionally been
underrepresented in school activities and decision-making,
such as parents of English language learners. Schools that
receive Title III funding, for example, are required to:

implement an effective means of outreach to parents of limited English proficient children to inform such parents of how they can:

be involved in the education
of their children; and

be active participants
in assisting their children:

to learn English;

to achieve at high levels in core academic subjects; and

to meet the same challenging State academic content and student academic achievement standards as
all children are expected to meet (Title III, 3302(e) cited in Gomez & Greenough, 2002, p. 4).

Parents have the right to be informed of the content and
quality of their children's education

Parents have the right and responsibility to participate in decisionmaking and learning at the school

Parents have the right to make educational choices in the
best interest of their children1

Although the legislation provides guidelines and provisions
for schools to follow as they develop family involvement
policies, schools may also face challenges in complying with
the law, especially in how to strengthen relationships with
families whose needs and concerns have not been addressed. Clearly, if families and schools are to form partnerships that work, there must first be a foundation of mutual trust, confidence, and respect. The goal of this booklet is to provide some starting points for schools to address these challenges.

Core concepts: Trust, culture and family involvement

Although most of us have a general understanding of terms
like "trust," "culture," and "family involvement," articulating precisely what they mean can be difficult. A working definition of each term, along with a brief introduction, is offered below.

Trust

Drawing on their comprehensive review of the literature on trust, Hoy and Tschannen-Moran (2003) offer the following definition:

Trust is an individual's or group's willingness to be
vulnerable to another party based on the confidence that the latter party is benevolent, reliable, competent, honest, and open. (p. 189).

Trustworthiness, then, is typically judged according to these
five main facets:

Benevolence: The degree to which the other party takes your best interests to heart and acts to protect them

Reliability: The extent to which you can depend upon
another party to come through for you, to act consistently,

and to follow through

Competence: Belief in the other party's ability to perform the tasks required by his or her position

Honesty: The degree to which the other person or institution demonstrates integrity, represents situations fairly, and speaks truthfully to others

Openness: The extent to which the other party welcomes
communication and shares information with the people it
affects

If families are to trust teachers and other school staff members, in other words, they must believe that school personnel are qualified, fair, and dependable, and have their child's best
interests at heart (Adams & Christenson, 2000; Bryk &
Schneider, 2002; Young, 1998). In most cases, such trust is built over time, based on sustained interactions between the parties in question. "In the absence of prior contact," Bryk and Schneider (2002) assert, families and educators "may rely on the general reputation of the other and also on commonalities of race, gender, age, religion, or upbringing" to assess a new person's trustworthiness. The more parties interact over time, however, the more their willingness to trust one another is based upon the other party's actions and their perceptions of one another's intentions, competence, and integrity.

Culture

Another slippery term, culture can be defined as:

a way of life, especially as it relates to the socially
transmitted habits, customs, traditions, and beliefs that
characterize a particular group of people at a particular
time. It includes the behaviors, actions, practices,
attitudes, norms and values, communications (language),
patterns, traits, etiquette, spirituality, concepts
of health and healing, superstitions, and institutions
of a racial, ethnic, religious, or social group. It is the
lens through which we look at the world (Edwards,
Ellis, Ko, Saifer, & Stuczynski, in press, p. 11).

Particularly for members of a majority cultural group, it may
be difficult to identify certain values and norms of behavior
as being connected to cultural background. As Ahearn et al.
(2002) remark, "Our own culture is often hidden from us, and
we frequently describe it as 'the way things are'" (p. 5).

One model commonly used as an entry point into discussions
about cultural differences places cultural groups along a continuum
from highly individualist to highly collectivist. More individualistic
cultures place higher value on "individual fulfillment
and choice," according to this framework, while cultures that are
more collectivist place greater emphasis on "interdependent
relations, social responsibility, and the well-being of the group"
(Trumbull et al., 2001, p. 4). As these authors note in Bridging
Cultures Between Home and School: A Guide for Teachers:

These two orientations of individualism and collectivism
guide rather different developmental scripts
for children and for schooling; and conflicts between
them are reflected daily in U.S. classrooms. Keener awareness of how they shape goals and behaviors can enable teachers and parents to interpret each other's
expectations better and work together more harmoniously
on behalf of students (p. 6).

For example, if schools are aware that in more collectivist communities extended family members regularly and naturally
take on parenting and mentoring roles with children, then
schools can work to develop relationships with all community
members who are concerned about their children's well-being.

As Trumbull et al. (2001) stress, being aware that different
cultural orientations exist is extremely valuable in developing
programs, policies, and activities that build on the strengths and values of a diverse school community. However, it is important not to overgeneralize or to use general information about different cultural groups to make
assumptions about individual students and their families:

Members of the same culture vary widely in their beliefs and actions…. We all have unique identities that we develop within our cultures, but these identities are not fixed or static. This is the reason that stereotypes
do not hold up: no two individuals from any culture are exactly alike…. Because individual differences within cultural groups are far greater than differences
between cultural groups, it is both particularly crucial
and particularly challenging to operationalize understandings
of culture and avoid stereotyping in diverse classrooms (Ahearn et al., 2002, pp. 8–9).

Getting to know students and their family members as individuals, participating in social activities in the community,
visiting families at home, and asking parents to share their
views are all good ways for educators to broaden their
understanding of family and cultural diversity.

Family Involvement

Also referred to as parent involvement, school-family collaboration, and school-family partnerships, family involvement
refers to a wide range of activities through which parents,
grandparents, older siblings, tribal members, and other members
of students' extended family contribute to and support
student learning. Under the widely-used framework developed
by Joyce Epstein (Epstein, 1995; Epstein et al., 1997), there are
six main categories of involvement: parenting, communicating with schools, volunteering at school, supporting learning at home, participating in school governance and decision-making, and taking part in school-community collaborations, such as
adult literacy classes or tutorial services. In this model, providing
a quiet study environment for students at home, expressing
value for learning, setting high expectations, helping with
homework assignments, chaperoning school events, attending
parenting classes, and serving on the school board are all considered
valuable contributions to students' learning.

Epstein's framework suggests many different ways for families to
be involved in children's education, and also challenges schools to engage in practices that reach out to diverse families. Trumbull et al. (2001) note, however, that schools may not always apply the framework in ways that reflect the needs, values, and abilities of
diverse families. For example, schools that offer parenting
instruction may not recognize cultural differences in child-rearing practices. Similarly, some parents may not possess the time or
the skills to assist children with schoolwork at home; others come
from cultures in which schooling is considered to be strictly the
teacher's responsibility. If schools are to be successful in engaging diverse families, Trumbull and others argue, they will need to reevaluate traditional models of involvement and include families in discussions of how they would most like to be involved (Mapp, 2002; Trumbull et al., 2001; Voltz, 1994). To be effective,
involvement efforts must become more collaborative, more inclusive,
and more culturally relevant (Gomez & Greenough, 2002).

What the research says

In their comprehensive review of 51 recent, high-quality studies* on family involvement, A New Wave of Evidence: The Impact of School, Family, and Community Connections
on Student Achievement, Henderson and Mapp (2002) highlight the following key findings on partnerships between families and schools:

Students with involved parents, regardless of family
income and background, are more likely to:

Have better social skills, show improved behavior, and
adapt well to school

Graduate and go on to postsecondary education (p. 7).

Family and community involvement that is linked to student
learning has a greater effect on achievement than more
general forms of involvement. To be effective, the form of
involvement should be focused on improving achievement
and be designed to engage families and students in developing
specific knowledge and skills (p. 38).

Schools that succeed in engaging families from very
diverse backgrounds share three key practices. They:

Focus on building trusting, collaborative relationships
among teachers, families, and community members

Recognize, respect, and address families' needs, as well
as class and cultural differences

Embrace a philosophy of partnership where power and
responsibility are shared (p. 7).

As the above findings suggest, trust and relationship-building
are recurrent themes in discussions of family involvement.
Until recently, however, trust in particular has received far
less attention in the research than have other aspects of family
involvement. Few studies have focused specifically on the
role of trust in relationships between schools and families;
fewer still have considered ways in which issues of race, class,
culture, home language, family involvement, and trust intersect.
Difficult to define, trust is even more difficult to measure,
let alone link causally to family involvement or other outcomes
for students, families, and schools. Three current, largescale
studies that have taken the issue on are described below:

Goddard, Tschannen-Moran, and Hoy's (2001) study of 47
elementary schools in a large urban school district in the
Midwest resulted in two major findings related to relationships
between families and schools: one, that student
achievement is higher in schools where teachers report
greater trust; and two, that "poverty more than ethnicity
seems to be the culprit" in hindering trust in urban
schools (p. 15). In examining levels of trust among teachers,
parents, and students, the researchers concluded that
"trust is systematically associated with student socioeconomic
status — the larger the proportion of poor students
in the school, the lower teachers' perceptions of trust"
(p. 13). Further, they found that:

even after controlling for the effects of the proportion
of low-income students in a school as a whole, trust
still plays an important role in student achievement.
In fact, the amount of trust teachers have in students
and in parents outweighs the effects of poverty .
Trust seems to foster a context that supports student
achievement, even in the face of poverty (p. 14).

In their 10-year study of more than 400 Chicago elementary
schools, Bryk and Schneider (2002) concluded that
trust among teachers, principals, students, and parents is
a strong predictor of student and school success. Schools
with higher levels of trust are more likely to successfully
implement and sustain reforms, while those with low
levels of trust stand little chance of making significant
gains. According to the researchers, schools demonstrating
high levels of teacher-family and teacher-principal trust
generally possess the following characteristics: they have
a stable population; there are minimal "racial and ethnic
tensions" among students, parents, and staff; and educators
are able to provide parents with clear evidence "that
students are learning" (p. 97).

Adams and Christenson's (2000) survey of 1,234 parents
and 209 teachers in a large suburban school district found
that both teachers and parents believed that improving
home-school communication was a "primary way to
enhance trust in the family-school relationship" (p. 491).
They also found that the kinds of interactions parents and
teachers had were better predictors of trust than was the
frequency of interactions. Additionally, family-school
trust "correlated significantly with three indicators of
school performance for high school students: credits
earned, grade point average, and attendance (p. 491).

Although there are few studies on trust to date, these and
other sources (listed in the References) provide us with an
understanding of why trust is so important in building relationships
and suggest ways in which schools can build trust.

Obstacles to trust: Barriers to strong family-school relationships

A common misperception about families who aren't actively
involved at school is that they simply "‘don't care' about their
children's education" (Mapp, 2002, p. 7). Educators who see
the same small group of families helping out in the classroom,
attending school events, and participating in school
governance, for example, may conclude that the others in the
district are not interested or do not place high value on education.
In fact, most families do care a great deal about their
children's education. Although white, higher-income families
tend to be more visible in many schools, the vast majority — in all ethnic, linguistic, and socioeconomic groups — support their children's learning at home in a variety of different ways (Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Mapp, 2002). Further, studies of
immigrant Latino, African American, and other underrepresented family groups have repeatedly found that they are
"highly interested" in being more directly involved (Trumbull
et al., 2001, p. 32).

Rather than assuming families are unwilling to become more active partners with schools, educators would do well to examine closely the specific causes of poor school-family relationships and low levels of involvement in their community. By examining these barriers, schools can begin to
develop solutions for gaining support and trust. Some
common obstacles:

Bad First Impressions

The way parents and other family
members are received the first time they come to the school
can set the tone for the duration of their relationship.
Families who feel ignored or slighted by the adults in the
building are unlikely to come back, especially if they had
been hesitant to come to the school in the first place.

Poor Communication

Whether it is miscommunication,
or a lack of communication on the part of both families
and schools, these issues can create tension and distrust.

Past Experiences

Family members' prior experiences with school also have a significant impact on how willing
they are to trust school staff members and become involved
in their children's schooling (Antunez, 2000; Mapp, 2002).
Family members whose own experiences were negative may
not feel comfortable entering the school building, or may not
trust that teachers will value their input. Similarly, families
who have encountered problems with another teacher or with another school their child attended may question the value of communicating with schools at all. Teachers, too, who have had previous negative experiences with families may question the value of communicating with others.

Family Members' Lack of Self-Confidence

Some may not believe that they are capable of contributing to
their children's education (Antunez, 2000; Onikama, Hammond,
& Koki, 1998); others find school personnel intimidating and fear looking incompetent if they ask teachers questions about how to help. Families may doubt that they have anything to offer by participating in the classroom, working with their children on schoolwork at home, or serving on
school decision-making teams (Trumbull et al., 2001).

Teachers' Lack of Confidence.

An equally powerful barrier to developing strong relationships
with families is teachers' lack of confidence. According to
Hoover-Dempsey, Bassler, and Brissie (1987), "a teacher's belief in his or her own teaching effectiveness is the strongest predictor of successful parental involvement" (cited in Onikama, Hammond, & Koki, 1998, p. 7). Newer teachers, in particular, may fear being viewed as incompetent by family members, and thus initially avoid contact with them. New and veteran teachers alike may
also doubt their ability to involve families effectively
(Onikama, Hammond, & Koki, 1998). Until recently, few teacher education programs offered training on working with
families as partners in their children's education. Even fewer
addressed strategies for collaborating with families from
diverse cultural, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

History of Discrimination

Past and present acts of
discrimination — whether they occurred in school or in
the larger community — remain a major barrier to family
involvement and trust in schools (Antunez, 2000). As
Onikama, Hammond, and Koki (1998) emphasize, "It is difficult for families to want to become involved with institutions that they perceive are ‘owned' by a culture that discriminated against them in the past" (p. 5). It should come as no surprise that Native families, for example, are
often hesitant to trust public schools:

In American Indian and Alaska Native communities
formal education has often been imposed upon people in a degrading and destructive manner. In
fact, the early efforts at education on the part of
the American government and religious groups were
aimed at eliminating Native cultures, languages, and
traditions. Clearly, this has not left a good impression
of mainstream education among many Native
peoples (Meadow et al., n.d., p. 14).

Differing Expectations of Parent-Teacher Roles

Recent immigrants to the United States may have little knowledge
of the public school system, much less a particular district's
expectations regarding family involvement in their child's
education. They may also hold very different beliefs about
the roles of teachers and parents than those assumed at
school (Trumbull et al., 2001). As Antunez (2000) notes,

In some cultures teaming with the school is not a
tradition. Education has been historically perceived
as the responsibility of the schools, and family intervention
is viewed as interference with what trained
professionals are supposed to do.

Families from such cultures may believe that their role is to
raise "respectful, well-behaved human beings" and leave the
academic instruction to schools (Trumbull et al., 2001, p. 39).

Lack of Confidence in the School

Finally, and perhaps
most important, families' doubts about school effectiveness,
teacher competence, and the integrity of school leaders are
prime causes of mistrust and unwillingness to engage in
activities related to the school. Family members who raise
concerns about a problem at school and fail to see any
action taken may see no reason to continue interacting
with the staff. Persistent problems, such as low test scores
or repeated incidents of violence and discrimination, may
lead some to conclude that educators simply aren't doing
their job. As many districts have seen, negative news coverage
can exacerbate this problem, especially if it is the only
source of information families and other community members
receive about teachers, school leaders, and school performance.

Laying the foundation: Building trust between families and schools

A critical first step in engaging diverse families,
then, is to focus on building relationships of mutual trust, confidence, and
respect. As Henderson and Mapp (2002) emphasize, "When outreach
efforts reflect a sincere desire to engage parents and community
members as partners in children's education, the studies
show that they respond positively" (p. 66). Some places to begin:

Assess the Level of Trust in the School Community

Selecting an assessment tool is a good place to start (for
some examples, see the Resources section). Discuss perceptions
of current school-family relationships with teachers,
administrators, students, parents, and other family members;
identify specific barriers to trust in your community;
and solicit input from all parties on ways to address them.

Actively Welcome Students and Families

Letting families know that they are welcome in the school building,
greeting them when they arrive, and posting signs in their native language
are just a few ways to communicate to parents that
they are valued members of the school community. Hiring
administrative staff who speak the same language as families
is another way to not only welcome bilingual families, but to
provide them with someone who can act as an interpreter.
Providing a Family Resource Center, as will be discussed in
the following section, is another way to demonstrate that
families are welcome at school. Parents and other family
members are also more likely to trust that the school values
their involvement when they see people who share their
cultural and linguistic background among the school staff.

Begin Relationships on a Positive Note

Adams and Christenson (2000) remark that oftentimes,

the only time parents have contact with the school
is in crisis situations such as when the student has
violated school regulations. with no previous contact
these situations often lead to nontrusting interactions
and, subsequently, non-optimal results for the student.
A previous time in which to signal trusting intentions
is considered an essential prerequisite for handling
critical issues for students (p. 482).

Teachers whose first contacts with family members are
positive — notes or phone calls about something good the
student did in class, for example — demonstrate to families
that the school is interested in and values their child.

Highlight School Successes

Families cannot be expected to
place trust in schools and teachers about whom they know very
little. Identify ways to communicate with parents and other
family members about student accomplishments, professional
development efforts, and other school programs that reflect the
school's commitment to quality teaching and learning.

Improve School-Family Communication

Too often, school-home communication is only one-way,
with schools determining what information parents need and
sending it to them. Opening up more and better ways for
families to communicate with schools, listening to what they say,
and responding seriously are essential to trust-building
(Adams & Christenson, 2000). "Make sure that you convey
the message to parents that their input is considered
valuable" (Voltz, 1994, p. 290).

Demonstrate that you care

Knowing that principals,
teachers, and other school staff have their children's best
interests at heart is critical to families developing trust in
schools (Goddard, Tschannen-Moran, and Hoy, 2001). Even
small things, such as learning a few words in a families'
native language, make a difference.

Show respect for all families

Voltz (1994) advises educators
to use titles, such as Mr., Ms., or Mrs., when addressing
parents, unless they tell you otherwise: "Although the use
of first names in some cultures may be viewed as a means
of establishing a collegial, friendly relationship, in other
cultures, it is viewed as disrespectful or forward" (Voltz,
1994, p. 290). Using "a tone of voice that expresses courtesy
and respect" is also important.

Treat parents as individuals

"Resist the stereotyping of
parents based on race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or
any other characteristic. Recognize the diversity that occurs
within cultural groups, as well as that which occurs between
them" (Voltz, 1994, p. 290).

Be open with parents

As Voltz (1994) advises, "Don't
ignore or dodge tough issues" (p. 290). Making information
easily accessible to families, providing it in language they
can understand, and ensuring that they know who to talk
to if they have questions is a good place to start in demonstrating
openness.

Take parents' concerns seriously

Listen, respond,
and follow through. Depending on the situation, consider
inviting families to help generate solutions. Be sure that
they know what is being done to address their concerns.

Promote professionalism and strong teaching

To build strong family-school trust, families must view the
school principal, teachers, and other personnel as competent,
honest, and reliable. Failure to remove staff members who
are widely viewed to be racist or ineffective, according to
Bryk and Schneider (2002), quickly leads to low levels of
trust in the school and its leadership.

Remember that trust-building takes time

Families whose past encounters with the school or community have
been negative may have no reason to expect things will be
different now. Rebuilding trust takes time and a serious
commitment to establishing strong relationships.

When a school initiates and implements programs,
policies, and procedures with the express intention
of seriously meeting the needs of the students, then
the school can begin to develop an environment in
which the community can begin to rightfully place
trust in the local school and its staff (Young, 1998,
p. 18).

Next steps: Strategies for engaging all families

As the level of trust in a school increases, teachers, family
members, and administrators not only become more willing to work together, but develop higher expectations for success. There is still much that can be done, however, to make opportunities for involvement more meaningful
and more accessible to all. Listed below are a number of strategies suggested by practitioners, researchers, and parents for engaging families with diverse backgrounds, interests, and needs:

Collaborate with Families on Ways to Be Involved

In many schools, staff members have traditionally been
responsible for establishing:

the nature of the relationship between themselves
and parents. If parents feel uncomfortable with the
school's conceptualization of family involvement,
they may be inclined to abstain from any of the
‘menu items' made available by school personnel
(Voltz, 1994, p. 290 ).

Communicating with families and asking them how they
would like to be involved and how the school can facilitate
that is an essential part of developing true family-school
collaborations.

Provide family members with opportunities to
develop participation skills

"If ethnically diverse parents
feel they lack the knowledge and competence to operate
within the bureaucratic structure of the school, they may
involve themselves at lower levels or not at all" (Young, 1998,
p. 16). Programs such as the Parent Effectiveness Leadership
Training (discussed in the Northwest Sampler) can be helpful
for families to understand their rights, responsibilities,
and roles in the education system, and develop their leadership
and communication skills.

Express high expectations for family-school partnerships

"Teacher expectations can affect teacher-family interactions
in the same way that teacher expectations can affect
student-teacher interactions" (Voltz, 1994, p. 289). It is up to
schools to make genuine efforts to reach out to families and
assure them their contributions are valued.

Communicate with families in person

In some cultures,
notes sent home from the school are regarded as too impersonal
and may not be interpreted as genuine invitations for
parents to participate. Visiting families in their home at
times that are convenient for them may be a better way to
reach out.

Recognize diverse family structures

"School personnel
often regard mothers as the primary caregivers in the family,
and therefore direct most communications about a
child's school performance to his or her mother. Under
these circumstances, paternal involvement may not be
encouraged, and fathers may even receive messages implying
that it is not welcomed" (Onikama, Hammond, & Koki,
1998, p. 6). Don't overlook other adults in students' lives —
grandparents, older siblings, tribal leaders, and so on — who
play a central role in their upbringing (Voltz, 1994).

Create a family resource center in the school

Family resource centers:

should be centrally located in the school, conveying
the message that families are valued partners in education.
Ideally, centers should be equipped with kitchens and bathrooms, soft furniture, resource information
in many languages, telephone and computer access, and toys for small children. When the center
welcomes the whole family — including children of all ages — parents or grandparents can access the resources available to them more easily. Even more
important, making the whole family welcome displays the school's respect for the family as a unit
(Trumbull et al., 2001, pp. 43).

Make school events more accessible to families

Providing transportation and childcare may make participation
in school events possible for a number of family members
who were not previously able to attend. Holding events
in other places in the community that parents frequent and
where they feel more comfortable is another way to encourage
participation (Sosa, 1997). It may also be necessary to
offer events at different times of the day or week to reach all
families.

Don't let language be a barrier

As Antunez (2000) writes,
"Inability to understand the language of the school is a major
deterrent to the parents who have not achieved full English
proficiency. In these cases, interactions with the schools are
difficult, and, therefore, practically nonexistent." There is
much that schools can do to prevent language from blocking
families' involvement with the school, from hiring bilingual
staff members to connecting parents with others in the
community, as discussed below. Whenever possible, schools
should avoid asking children to translate for their parents, as
this may do more to make parents uncomfortable than to aid
in communication.

Build connections between families who speak the same
language

Connecting recent immigrants to other members
of the school community who speak their language and are
more familiar with the school may be especially valuable,
particularly for families with few other connections in the
area. Families may also feel more comfortable attending school
events if they know that other people they recognize and can
communicate with easily will be there.

Provide opportunities for meaningful involvement

Studies have shown that family members are generally more
interested in activities that are directly connected to their
child. Volunteering at a school fundraiser, for example, may
be seen as less valuable to some families than receiving
information on how to work with their child at home on
reading or math. Further, families need to know what purpose
activities serve and how they relate to overall goals.

Design assignments that build on families' "funds of
knowledge"

Families offer a wealth of knowledge that can
contribute to the curriculum. One teacher, for example, identified
construction work as a topic with which many of her
students' families had experience. She then developed a
series of assignments in which students researched and
wrote about construction work, built model buildings, and
gave oral reports on their projects. "By the end of the semester, 20 parents and community people had visited [the] class
and shared their knowledge with her students" (NCREL, 1994). Other schools, such as Heritage Elementary in Oregon, have developed projects in which children interview their
families about their culture in the classroom, and the families
teach the students dances and songs. (see the Northwest
Sampler for more about this project).

Provide staff training on working with families

As noted earlier in the booklet, many teachers have had little
experience or training on ways to engage students' families.
Others may feel intimidated by parents or worry that involving
parents more directly in the classroom will be a waste of
time. School leaders may need to jumpstart a school-wide
family involvement initiative by providing professional
development on school-family collaboration, intercultural
communication, connections between culture and learning,
or other topics specific to involving diverse families more
directly in students' education (Trumbull et al., 2001).

Consider ways to involve and build relationships with
family members of high school students

"As students
move to secondary schools, parents and students are faced
with the challenge of communicating and building relationships
with several teachers" (Adams & Christenson, 2000,
pp. 491–492). Teachers who have more than 100 students
find it increasingly challenging to build relationships with
all their students' families. Under these circumstances, a
school can develop relationships in such ways as inviting
families to participate in activities such as student mentoring,
career days, senior projects, and fundraisers. Sending
short but frequent notes by e-mail to families also helps to
keep the school in touch with families on a regular basis.

Conclusion

To be certain, there is no set recipe for increasing trust in
a school or for developing stronger relationships between
families, students, principals, and teachers. As Young (1998)
writes,

Each individual school, in cooperation with the community
in which it serves, must reflect on its current
educational program and its relationship with the
community in which it is embedded. Based on this
self-reflection, the school and the community must
jointly determine which strategies are likely to be the
most effective in creating a sense of trust (p. 17).

Making a commitment to building partnerships with diverse
families, as the schools profiled in the following Northwest
Sampler demonstrate, is a good place to start.

Examples of family involvement plans in school districts

The following section describes ways that schools, districts, and parent groups in the Northwest have built trusting school-family relationships that have led to greater family participation. Though the strategies and programs may differ in design and purpose, each seeks to build strong partnerships with families.

Parent Mentors Create Bridge Between Schools and Bilingual Families

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District has a diverse
student body — 60 languages are spoken in 33 schools.
Almost 10 percent of the borough's population is Alaska
Native; 8 percent of students are English language learners.

The Parent Mentor Program provides new parents with a
parent mentor who speaks their language and orients them
to the school building and staff. One of the main functions
of the parent mentor is to check in with new families on a
weekly basis and see how things are going. When families
cannot be reached by phone, the mentors visit their homes.
If there is an attendance problem, for example, parent mentors
tell families that they miss the child and ask if there is
anything they can do to help.

Parent mentors provide positive,
welcoming outreach services in many other ways, a
well: they are on hand to welcome families as they drop off
and pick up their children from school; they meet children
as they get off the bus; they send out greeting cards, invitations
to meetings, and other communications to bilingual
families; they call absentee children; and they participate
in meetings and conferences as interpreters. The duties and
function of mentors vary depending on the school and the
structure the principal creates. One principal has created a
structure for the mentor and specific tasks like keeping a
journal and keeping track of parent contacts. A parent
resource specialist coordinates the program and helps the
mentors with any concerns and questions.

Nancy Castillo, a parent resource specialist at James B. Ryan
Middle School, emphasizes to mentors the importance of
taking the time to build trust. "When I oriented the parent
mentors to the role, I told them that the most important
thing they can do is to treat families like I treat you — with
respect." A simple thing Castillo and all the mentors do is
make communications personal — either by handwriting
notes on printed flyers, making phone calls, or paying home
visits. "The children love to see us in their own communities,"
Castillo says.

Carmen Fernandez, a Spanish-speaking parent mentor,
discusses one of the breakthroughs she had with a parent
on one of her home visits. "The first two times we visited
her home, we talked through the door, because the mother
was ashamed that she didn't have furniture. A third time, she
invited us in for coffee and we talked about how important it
is for her son to be in school. From that day on, she has come
to school every day to make sure her son is there. She also
makes sure his homework is in on time."

Fernandez said this incident really made her realize the
impact that talking directly with a family can have. Yelena
Linse, a parent mentor who speaks Russian, talks about how
thankful a Russian parent was when Linse contacted her and
started speaking her native language. She had many questions
and Linse was able to provide her with a list of helpful
agencies. Linse even offered to go with the parent to help.

Family communication always begins as positive and
welcoming, so that if there is a problem down the road that
needs to be communicated, a positive relationship between
the mentor and family has already been established. Parents
are encouraged to contact mentors if they have questions or
concerns throughout the year. Mentors also encourage other
parents to volunteer at the school. Sometimes mentors watch
other parents' children in the parent resource room while
those parents volunteer.

Lucy Glora, who was a Spanish-speaking parent mentor, was
recently hired to be the bilingual secretary for the district's
Title III office. She explains that she was motivated to become
a parent mentor because she remembers how it felt to be new
to the district and to be frustrated that the teachers could not
speak her language. "Now I want to help other families who
don't speak English — I understand how they feel."

Mary Mathis, another Spanish-speaking parent mentor,
explains that her most important role is to put families at
ease and orient them to the school. One of the first things
she does for new families is to introduce them to the teachers
and principal. "I say to the families, I am here to help you,
interpret for you, and if I can't help you, I will find another
staff person who can." Mathis also makes phone calls home
to families on teachers' behalf, to invite them to a school
function, for example. "This works better that just sending
a flier home, which could get lost." Mathis also encourages
families to help their children as much as they can with
learning. She offers some suggestions to school staff members
on how they can be more welcoming to families who
don't speak English:

Make sure that families can visit the school at times that
are convenient for them.

Be aware that your body language and facial expressions
are important to parents' first impressions of the school.

Your smile as they come through the door will put them
more at ease in a potentially intimidating environment.

Introduce new families to the principal.

Although the program was at first funded by Title I money,
now it is funded primarily from Title III (limited English
proficient) dollars and a Development and Implementation
Grant, so parent mentors work at both Title I and non–Title I
schools. Because of budget cuts, parent mentors this year
work fewer than 20 hours a week. Although the parent mentors
provide orientations to all new families in the district,
there are only some schools that have mentors, so they are
very busy. In previous years, parent mentors were trained to
be certified translators and regularly translated enrollment
forms and family communications into several languages.

Because No Child Left Behind stipulates that districts implement
an effective means of outreach to parents of limited
English proficient children and provide information such as
individual achievement on state assessments in an "understandable
format," these parent mentors serve a very important
purpose. Now, the state is attempting to have uniform
statewide forms translated into at least 15 languages, so
mentors can spend their time doing more outreach activities.

"One challenge to this program," says Sipe, "has been finding
parents who are bilingual, willing to work less than 15 hours
a week, and feel comfortable with the school environment
themselves, and who are able to take a leadership role to be
able to help others who feel less comfortable and intimidated."

Family Workshops

In addition to the parent mentor program, the grant also
funds workshops for families to assist in providing educational
enrichment at home. The workshops are open to all
parents, but families that have children in the ELL program
are specifically invited.

The district has offered many workshops for parents: family
math, math games, Raising Your Child Bilingual, and Make
and Take workshops. The Make and Take workshops have
been especially successful in engaging parents. Teachers
from around the district demonstrate an activity they can
use at home. After the demonstrations, teachers go around
to centers and help families create a learning tool. Some
examples of activities last year were:

Bean bag toss math game in which the families sewed
their own bean bags and put numbers 0–9 on 10 plastic
cups that are held together with popsicle sticks

Tactile phonics board for preschool and kindergarten children
created with colored hair gel, zippered plastic bags,
and squarecut cardboard

Electroboards that can be used for almost any content with
tag board, electrical wire, brass fasteners, and continuity
testers that light up when the correct connection is made

Laminated graphic organizers that are blank on one side
and have examples on the other side, so that kids can fill
them in with dry erase markers and wipe them off when
they are finished

Portfolios for children to collect and organize their best school
work with stickers and colored papers to decorate them

Flip chute made with a milk carton that kids decorated to
use when they are working with flash cards

Shannon Sinclair, the Title III Staff Development Coordinator
says that mailing out flyers, the usual avenue to get families
involved in workshops, wasn't working. "We tried a couple
different things, such as having workshops at a school rather
than the district office, and providing workshops for the whole
family, rather than just parents." Sending translated invitations
to families, posting flyers at schools, and having parent
mentors and ELL tutor instructors give flyers to families are
other strategies that have worked to increase attendance.

As families began to attend the workshops more frequently,
they were asked to fill out a needs assessment to find out how
workshops could be made more useful and how to encourage
more families to attend. From these results, the days of the
workshops were adjusted, and continued to offer activities for
children while parents were learning, or activities that families
could do together. Another important finding of the survey,
says Sinclair, was to be sure to include food at the workshops!

Parents for African American Students

Bellevue is a large urban district located 10 miles east of Seattle, Washington. The district has 15,207 students, and is diverse culturally, ethnically, and linguistically, with Asian students 21 percent of the student body, African Americans 3 percent, Hispanic students 8 percent, and white students 68 percent.

Bellevue School District offers families many opportunities to partner with individual schools. Says Newport High School's Principal Patty Siegwarth: "We work diligently to engage all our students and parents in the educational process. We invite parents to gatherings using invitations written in their native language and have interpreters available." Each school has a PTSA as part of the districtwide PTSA, and Newport High School has the Program Delivery Council — a decisionmaking body of families, teachers, students, and the principal. Some schools hold family forums at which family members can ask administrators questions about the curriculum.

A unique family-initiated district group is the Parents for African American Students. This grass-roots organization formed when Rose Mayfield, a parent and employee in the district, brought some concerns to the attention of the new district superintendent. Many of these concerns had to do with the perceived lack of communication about important matters or events being conveyed to families of color. The superintendent asked if other families had the same concerns, and did the families network? "Because African American families especially are few and spread out in the various schools, we had not at that point done much networking," says Mayfield. With the superintendent's support, several parents formed a group to begin networking between families, so that they could share information, and voice concerns collectively. About 30-50 families were invited to an initial meeting to share their concerns. The superintendent asked if he could attend the meeting, and the group agreed. "This was a very emotional meeting for the families," remembers Mayfield. "The superintendent was very receptive to us, and we were able to fill him in on the history of the families' concerns with the district."

After the meeting, a group of parents presented the superintendent with a list of their concerns. Although not all concerns have been resolved, the group members decided that they would do what they could to work on particular concerns. At the moment, the group is looking at ways to encourage students to stay in school, graduate, and consider higher education. One way to do this, they felt would be to have a fundraiser to provide money for college scholarships. The group partnered with several other parent groups in the district to do this. This kind of partnering, says Mayfield, worked really well because all the small groups could pool their resources.

The Parents for African American Students have also planned more networking social events for families, and especially for the children and young adults, who don't often see each other since they are spread throughout the district. An evening was planned where families played board games together; former students were invited to visit. "It was an amazing event," says Mayfield. "We plan to do more such events, such as movie nights a few times a month. We want to create an opportunity for families and students to connect."

Although the group was asked to join the district's PTSA, Mayfield explains that they declined the invitation because they wanted to address their own concerns first. In the past, explains Mayfield, "some of us didn't feel the PTSA needed us." This does, however, leave the door open for future collaboration between the groups for the advancement of all children in the district. Mayfield is very excited about the progress so far. "At first, our idea for the purpose of the group was to share information between us. If we could do just that much, it would be great; if we could do more, it would be even better."

*Studies selected for inclusion in A New Wave of Evidence (2002) were
reviewed to meet the following standards: "1. Sound methodology: experimental,
quasi-experimental, or correlational design with statistical controls.
For qualitative studies, such as case studies [the authors] looked for sound
theory, objective observation, and thorough design. 2. Study findings that
matched the data collected and conclusions that were consistent with the
findings" (Henderson & Mapp, 2002, p. 13). For more information about
these studies, a database of more than 200 articles, and more research on
family involvement see the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory
Web site at http://www.sedl.org/work/family.html.